I went to my bank this lunchtime here in Brno in the Czech Republic with something I haven’t seen in quite a while – a paper cheque. Actually, it was a paper check as it originated in the good old US of A. I took it to the cashier and she took it and looked at it carefully. “What is it?” she asked. “A check,” said I, with a smile. I was asked to take my check and take a seat.

About five minutes later, one of the ladies from the back office came looking for the ‘American with the paper check’. I’m unsure as to which was more unusual – the American (naturalized) or the paper check!

We sat down at her desk and she pulled out a huge manual. Thumbing her way expertly through this massive tome she evidently found what it was she was looking for….that part of the system manual that told her how to deal with those archaic financial instruments – paper cheques. Within a few minutes, three ladies stood around the screen muttering to each other and trying to actually capture my check deposit in their system while yet a fourth held my check in the air and examined it suspiciously and closely all the while comparing it to photographs of various checks from various institutions. She and the other three then compared notes and with some satisfaction, were able to identify it to the system as a US Treasury check. After presenting passport and signing photocopies of said check and passport copy, navigating through multiple screens in their system, I was informed that my check would probably take around a month to show up in my account and that there would be a 500CZK fee ($25) for handling it. The ladies looked as if they had accomplished something and apologized to me for taking so much time…. “You see, we barely ever see paper checks here anymore…” one kindly explained to me.

I am as sick as a dog and not feeling up to doing anything so I am running an old article that I like… I hope you all do too!

“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

I posted this quote on Facebook last night on the Last Observer page. For a novel about the nature of reality and magic, it struck me as a darn fine quote. Magic really does involve belief or faith. Faith really can move mountains. Magic rituals, far from being some evil activity performed naked with the lights out, are simply a very traditional human activity designed to help act out and therefore convince the subconscious and other areas of the psyche, that something is so. That, if you like, we can still fly. I discuss this in Inner Journeys where I use the example of projecting success and being successful as a result. A Rolex watch could be used to help convey the idea of success and it is, in this context, a magical instrument.

The quote though, reminded me of something I had written on Asteroth’s Domain a while ago. The blog article was titled Imagining and it deals with a memory of being very young and able to imagine things into reality. A sense that at some point I existed in a real place but fall back into this dreamworld on waking bringing a very real sense of disappointment. In this ‘Otherworld, whatever I imagine can be my reality. In this place, I can fly. The fact is, I am pretty convinced that I could fly but at some point growing up, I was laughed at and told, “don’t be silly, people can’t fly!” At that moment, I lost my ability to fly. At that moment, I lost something else far more important. I lost my belief in magic and I lost my childhood.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming anyone for this. It is the world we live in and what would it be to think I could fly at my age? Well, guess what? There are moments when the magic is still there. When dragons still exist and Unicorns roam and yes, I can fly. They exist on that point between waking and sleep and who is to say that this is reality and not just imagination or that its really the other way around?

JM Barrie knew and gave us directions… “second star to the right and straight on til morning”

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About me

G. Michael Vasey is a Yorkshire man and rabid Tigers fan that has spent most of his adult life lost deep in Texas and more lately, in the Czech Republic. While lucky enough to write for a living as a leading analyst in the commodity trading and risk management industry, he surreptitiously writes strange poems and equally strange books and stories on the topics of metaphysics, the occult and the paranormal on the side, hoping that one-day, someone might actually buy them.
After growing up experiencing ghosts, poltergeist and other strange and scary experiences, he developed an interest in magic and the esoteric. These days he fancies himself as a bit of a mystic and a magician to boot. Most of his inspiration for his scribbling comes from either meditation or occasionally, very loud heavy metal music.
He has appeared on radio shows such as Everyday Connection and X Radio with Rob McConnell to tell strange and scary stories. He has also been featured in Chat - Its Fate magazine and interviewed by Ghost Village and Novel Ideas amongst others.
He blogs addictively at garymvasey.com and he tweets micro thoughts at @gmvasey. He also reviews a lot of very weird books at strangebookreviews.com.